Feisty Females: Grandma Gatewood (Part I)

After becoming the first woman to hike the Appalachian Trail solo at the age of sixty-seven in 1955, today’s “Feisty Female” remarked to Sports Illustrated upon completing the trek, “I would never have started this trip if I had known how tough it was, but I couldn’t and wouldn’t quit.” Such was the grit and determination of Emma Gatewood, a.k.a. Grandma Gatewood – how that spirit became embodied in her is the subject of today’s article, with her story concluding next Friday.

Emma Rowena Caldwell was born on October 25, 1887 in the Guyan Township of Gallia County, Ohio to parents Hugh Wilson and Esther Evaline (Trowbridge) Caldwell, she being one of fifteen children (ten girls and five boys).

Grandma Gatewood stayed with us for awhile when she hiked the Oregon Trail. I walked a few steps with her. She had a significant and powerful influence on my life. I have traveled the world, mostly by hitchhiking in my younger years. She was a godsend. What an inspiration to so many…